I am looking into upgrading the whole board possibly going with a completely different program instead of PHP BB, currently I'm investigating switching from our current PHP BB 3.0 to the newest PHP BB 3.2. If this doesn't work out I may go with something completely different my options are my Mybb, punBB or SMF

I'm attempting to transfer the current database entirely so logins and passwords will stay the same if that works i'll let you know

ok we me know if you find problems it took me 15 hours to shoehorn a 12 year old database and get the old code to the point i could upgrade to the newest but i'm hoping it fixes more problems than are caused

ok we me know if you find problems it took me 15 hours to shoehorn a 12 year old database and get the old code to the point i could upgrade to the newest but i'm hoping it fixes more problems than are caused

ok we should be good, there still might be a few problems with the database i'll try and fix them when they pop up but... keep in mind i have not clue about a sql database or fixing it (i'm amazed i got this far)

ok we me know if you find problems it took me 15 hours to shoehorn a 12 year old database and get the old code to the point i could upgrade to the newest but i'm hoping it fixes more problems than are caused

ok we should be good, there still might be a few problems with the database i'll try and fix them when they pop up but... keep in mind i have not clue about a sql database or fixing it (i'm amazed i got this far)

It looks fantastic!
are you doing this yourself or are you having someone do it for you?
did you already know this stuff or did you take a tutorial ride online first?
was it hard to figure out?

I run the chloroform forum and its a bit old and I really need to update it but have no idea how to start or even how to backup the forum!

ok we me know if you find problems it took me 15 hours to shoehorn a 12 year old database and get the old code to the point i could upgrade to the newest but i'm hoping it fixes more problems than are caused

ok we should be good, there still might be a few problems with the database i'll try and fix them when they pop up but... keep in mind i have not clue about a sql database or fixing it (i'm amazed i got this far)

It looks fantastic!
are you doing this yourself or are you having someone do it for you?
did you already know this stuff or did you take a tutorial ride online first?
was it hard to figure out?

I run the chloroform forum and its a bit old and I really need to update it but have no idea how to start or even how to backup the forum!

nope just me google and youtube but i have been F-ing with phpbb on and off for a few years, i'm sure if i knew what i was doing it would have taken 5 hours. hard is a relative term.. umm
I wouldn't say it's hard it's just very convoluted and involved lots of little steps and some of those steps I have no clue what I'm doing

Here's a walkthrough of what I did.. First login to your web host and Backup backup Backup backup everything, your sequel database you should be able to access that from your web host control panel. In my case since the original database was a sequel 4 and we've been having lots of errors with the database lately I assumed it's because it's old and they're slowly phasing it out. most of the new message boards requires sequel 5 so my first hurdle was upgrading the database. The next big hurdle was deciding on what software I wanted to use my web host has Auto installers for couple a decade ago they did have an auto installer for PHP BB which is what was used to create the board, however they no longer offer an auto installer. I almost went with SML but because of the age I decided to stick with PHP BB they've just released 3.2 and the board was 3.0.14. I stuck with PHP BB because they've always had a big user development section lots of mods you can add lots of themes to change the overall look of the board and it's relatively easy to go into the admin control panel and plug stuff in much easier than it was a decade ago where you actually had to go in with notepad and edit code.

So step one after making multiple backups was to revert the board to stock get rid of any old modifications try and get it back to as close to stock as possible.

When I say backups and multiple copies I mean I made two copies of my database with different names one to try and edit and one as a oh s*** backup. You also want to backup your config files for the message board 4 PHP BB that's config.PHP. in my case i just made a 2nd copy of the whole board .

So the next step for me was to download the software i was going to use which was PHPBB and they have some tutorials for walkthroughs on what you should. do course not every situation is the same so you have to think it through a little if depending on your situation, but they do give you a broad walk through and if you're lucky their walkthrough will work for you. However their walkthrough assumes of that you haven't been manually editing code on your board for a decade to make s*** work right.

Now you should be able to create a new database in your web host control panel and import the old database into it course that may require some that tweaking with Notepad and changing stuff if you are editing with notepad I recommend notepad++ it's freeware for PC.

The process basically goes download a in my case of 50 megabyte database file, edit using a text editor that doesn't reformat word any word processing software is going to totally screw things up. upload 50 Megabyte file after it's been edited and then attempt to import it into the new database. the whole process will take depending on your server upload speeds and how fast it can import the file, for me was a 10 minute round trip. Of course once it's uploaded more problems come I'll get to them in a second

The next big step is uploading your software but you're going to upload it in a fractionating way at least that's how PHPBB has you do it so you upload the majority of the full software package, minus the data folders, then copy the data folders from your old board into this making sure to edit the config file to point at the new database. Then you log into the admin control side of the new board and it will see those data there so it will attempt to update.

So you pointed at the database the new one you've created And you Let it Loose and when it errors out, you find the error or what it was doing when it. then you go to your database and try and edit or change what caused the error. Then reupload the 50 Megabyte file, delete the database you had imported and make a new one. Over and over again round and round until the update process hits 100%.

You know have a board that works loosely and we'll still kick up some errors but you try and find them all and see what cause the error and that comes down to Google and YouTube and see if you can apply what the people are talking about to your situation to fix what you have no clue what they're talking about.

I'm liking the template, and the page load times for the site overall appear to be much better as well.

Since you're currently looking at board upgrades, would it be possible to look into getting TLS set up? There are many free CA's available nowadays, and a class 1 cert would provide basic transport security. Naturally the handshake has an overhead, but you can always set both HTTP and HTTPS access available so that people have the choice.

I just wanted to say thank you so much for all the effort. I can't believe that after more than a decade the board is still running and we're able to hang out and discuss with such cool bunch. None of that would be possible without your dedication. Kudos to you and I hope someday we could meet so I can buy you a beer or three

I'm liking the template, and the page load times for the site overall appear to be much better as well.

Since you're currently looking at board upgrades, would it be possible to look into getting TLS set up? There are many free CA's available nowadays, and a class 1 cert would provide basic transport security. Naturally the handshake has an overhead, but you can always set both HTTP and HTTPS access available so that people have the choice.

Just putting it out there while the topic is active ^_^

Thanks

i wouldn't mind doing it it's just pushing my skillset, i know i can set the board to use Https and i can set secure cookies but i'm not sure how to install the server side cert. and so far it does not look like i can use TLS for the board just e-mail ... BUT phpbb 3.2 is newer so who know ?

I just wanted to say thank you so much for all the effort. I can't believe that after more than a decade the board is still running and we're able to hang out and discuss with such cool bunch. None of that would be possible without your dedication. Kudos to you and I hope someday we could meet so I can buy you a beer or three

Thanks man, who know one day i may head south. on the flip side if you're ever in my neck of the woods i'll buy

Whoa LH, I don't think a simple thank you can suffice here. Your dedication to keeping our little home here alive is simply amazing and without this place for finding and sharing TS/Freeze material, I'd be totally lost.

Like many others have said; thank you, L.H., for all of your hard work and dedication. Other than posting on here / DA / Facebook / Ebay, I have no clue about how much time & effort is involved in repairing / maintaining a website such as this. I usually visit once a day (at least) and wouldn't want to imagine not having it around.

Like many others have said; thank you, L.H., for all of your hard work and dedication. Other than posting on here / DA / Facebook / Ebay, I have no clue about how much time & effort is involved in repairing / maintaining a website such as this. I usually visit once a day (at least) and wouldn't want to imagine not having it around.

I second that sentiment. We all appreciate the hard work your do to maintain this forum. I visit the forum daily as well, and I would feel that I'm missing a part of my online experience without it.

Well i have found the first Casualty of the board upgrade pointed out by Statuetized it seems that when i moves about 150 or so old photos were corrupted and lost to the board, sadly i i'm not sure i can get them back, i'm sorry IF and and big IF it's mission critical that they are recovered i can TRY and get the old board back in working order with not hurting this one and attempt to get them but it's A LOT of work,

i just tried to reupload the Files hoping that would just show up but that didn't work and with 1500+ files that are stored in a strange non photo file format i'm afraid that i could corrupt more files if i keep trying

Well i have found the first Casualty of the board upgrade pointed out by Statuetized it seems that when i moves about 150 or so old photos were corrupted and lost to the board, sadly i i'm not sure i can get them back, i'm sorry IF and and big IF it's mission critical that they are recovered i can TRY and get the old board back in working order with not hurting this one and attempt to get them but it's A LOT of work,

i just tried to reupload the Files hoping that would just show up but that didn't work and with 1500+ files that are stored in a strange non photo file format i'm afraid that i could corrupt more files if i keep trying

ok so i may have fixed it ... but if anyone is still missing photos and notices some missing attachments let me know